B.C. government paid $9.5 million in matching funding to the Times and an additional $1.5 million for various activities to host event

Dancers perform during an event in Vancouver on Tuesday January 22, 2013, announcing that The Times of India Film Awards will be held in the city in April.

Photograph by: DARRYL DYCK
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER -- The glitter and glamour of Bollywood will come to Vancouver in early April, after Premier Christy Clark on Tuesday announced that B.C will host the inaugural Times of India Film Awards.

Clark said the Times of India is the largest media organization in that country, reaching 90 million people a day. She called that a “tremendous opportunity” for a rapidly growing middle class of Indians to learn about tourism and business opportunities in B.C.

The premier said India’s middle class is expected to grow from just 50 million to 583 million in the next 15 years, which will unleash enormous buying potential for B.C. imports and tourism.

The awards, which will be held from April 4 to April 6, with multiple events held around Metro Vancouver, are expected to draw an audience 30,000 people and will be broadcast around the world.

“The Times of India Film Awards will be seen by hundreds of millions of people in one of the world’s fastest growing economies and Vancouver will be centre stage,” Clark said.

To bring the awards to B.C., the government paid $9.5 million in matching funding to the Times and an additional $1.5 million for various activities during the event, including a business forum.

She said the economic benefit of hosting the event, from tourism and event production, is expected to be between $13 million and $18 million.

While Clark says the funding money will be recovered, some questioned whether tax dollars should be spent on bringing in a foreign film awards ceremony when B.C.’s own film industry is suffering because competitors in Ontario and Quebec are luring away production teams with higher tax credits.

Clark said B.C. supports the B.C. film industry with $285 million dollars in tax credits a year. “I think that is a really good investment,” said Clark, adding that bringing the TOIFA to Vancouver is a separate endeavour.

“We’re investing $12 million dollars in what we hope will be a long, durable and very profitable trade relationship. If there’s film, that’s just part of it; tourism is a very big part of it, and so is trade.”

One of the conditions of the agreement with the Times, Clark said, was that a Bollywood movie would be shot in B.C., creating jobs for those in the hard-hit industry.

Clark made the announcement Tuesday at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver, where dozens of stakeholders and members from Vancouver’s Indo-Canadian community gathered to watch glitzy Bollywood dance shows.

Indian performer Shiamak Davar, who also has a home in North Vancouver, entertained the crowd with a performance by his dance troupe. Men wearing blue sequined jackets and bejewelled women danced in a swirl of gold and green saris to traditional upbeat Bollywood music.

“I take a lot of pride standing here today,” said acclaimed Indian actress Chitrangada Singh, who is visiting Vancouver for the first time. “I am looking forward to a great time.”

The Bollywood actress has been in several well-known films in India and is married to golfer Jyoti Randhawa.

Davar said when the Times asked him to be the choreographer at the first TOIFA, he jumped at the opportunity to be part of a spectacular event in his second home.

“I love Vancouver,” he said. “So I am really happy to be here being director of choreography and design … it’s really fantastic that you have all been so open and receiving to Bollywood.”

Karan Johar, a prominent director and producer in India, said he will be scouting for locations to shoot his next high-budget movie here in B.C.

He said the film infrastructure in B.C. is excellent and he would hire local people to help with the film. He said making a film in Vancouver is a “high priority.”

Bollywood is a concept, a conflation of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hollywood to describe the Hindi film industry. The TOIFA event in Vancouver isn’t part of the International Indian Film Academy Awards, also known as the Bollywood Oscars.

Meanwhile, Peter Leitch, chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios, said the premier’s announcement is good news for the long-term prospects of the local industry, but won’t do anything to alleviate immediate concerns about losing film business to Ontario and Quebec.

“If it (the Bollywood film) puts people back to work, it’s good news,” said Leitch. “But it’s not a core piece of our business. This is welcome and helpful, but it won’t change our concerns about the inequities in the tax credits between Ontario and B.C.

“This is a building block with India for the long term. Hopefully it’s the start of a bigger relationship.”

Leitch said that local film crews are sitting idle and studio space is near-empty in B.C. as Ontario’s and Quebec’s higher tax rebates lure B.C. productions to competitors there.